Lonmin: Beamish named as full-time chairman

Brian Beamish had been appointed Lonmin chairman following the retirement of Roger Phillimore, the company said yesterday. The board of directors had decided on Monday to confirm Beamish’s appointment with immediate effect, Lonmin said. Chairman of the Lonmin nomination committee Jim Sutcliffe said he was delighted Beamish had accepted the position permanently, saying: “After an extensive and exhaustive search process I am convinced that Brian was by far the best candidate and I look forward to supporting him as we develop and implement our plans.” Chief executive Ben Magara said he looked forward to continuing to work closely with Beamish to build a robust and sustainable Lonmin. Beamish joined the Lonmin board on November 1 last year and has been interim chairman since May 1. He is an engineer and has 36 years of experience with Anglo American, where his positions including group director of mining and technology, chief operating officer, and chief executive of global base metals. Prior to this he was operations director of Anglo American Platinum for four years. He has also served as non-executive director of De Beers and Anglo American Platinum. “Lonmin holds rights over a suite of exceptional PGM [platinum group metal] assets, has unmatched technical strengths and good people with the drive and skills to restore the business to profitability,” Beamish said. The return to work after the five-month strike was progressing well, he said. Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) members at Lonmin, Anglo American Platinum, and Impala Platinum downed tools on January 23 in a wage dispute. The companies signed a three-year wage deal with Amcu on June 24, ending the strike. Lonmin rose 0.6 percent to R41.95 yesterday. – Sapa